These Antiques & Collectibles have been collected by me over the past 40 years in South East Asia. What you will see is just a fraction of the goods available. For those of you who live or will visit the Seattle area, The Barn at Owl's Peak is open for your leisurely viewing by appointment.

Travel began as a passion in the early 1980's. I felt then and still do, deeply connected to the Spirit of the people and their arts.I soon discovered a deeper joy that evolved from working with these peoples, one I would not have known as a simple visitor. I came to better understand how all people are one, to view the world without judgement. I see the world as a multi-faceted crystal ball, all facets looking into the same core, each with it's own perspective, each equally valid. The goods you will see,reflect cultural aspects of these people...one that may draw you into their mystic web.

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You will find many more antiques in the Furniture & Unique Pieces for Locals, the Buddhas & Deities, Vintage Puppets & Puppet Heads, Sacred Thankgas & Kalagas,Mostly Bronze, and Ethnographic Fabrications Sections

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There is no Path to Happiness: Happiness is the Path...Buddha

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The Following Nine Antique Statues from Burma are very Rare.

The Pegu Mother Royal:  The Patron Nat-Lady of the Mons of Pegu area

Today her story is enacted in ritual feasts, the story of a she buffalo who took care of a baby prince left in the woods.  She lost her life trying to find her adopted son who was taken back by his royal kinsmen. The real mother of the prince decided to wear the headdress,shaped like a buffalo's head ,in the memory of the one who saved her son's life.

She often carries flowers in an offering bowl in her outreached hands.

An Impressive Collection of Coconut Scrapers:

James Bastabel

Home in Bangkok

Antique Coconut Scrapers: Kratai Khood Maprow

Coconut scrapers & graters are ingenious devices carved in the shape of various animals. The worker sat while removing the husks with the end of the serrated metal tongue, typically using that coconut pulp for making curries. The need  for coconut milk, an essential component of countless dishes may have led to the  development of these unique tools. The user  straddled the seat and, leaning forward slightly, deftly rotated a half coconut around the grating tongue to extract the interior flesh , from which the milk was subsequently pressed.  Over the years the khood maprow became much more elaborate with the body carved into a variety of shapes. The most typical , called a kratai khood maprow, graing rabbit, was that of a rabbit, perhaps because of the prominent teeth, but other animals were used as well often representing the twelve animals of the Chinese calendar. They are rarely made today making these antique coconut scrapers desirable for collectors.

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The Highest Art is Living an Ordinary Life in an Extraordinary Manner... a Tibetan Saying

Burmese Ox Cart Prow Decorations

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Travel for work & pleasure  was by ox cart in Burma & other  South East Asian countries for centuries. Festival carts were always decorated elaborately. Ox cart races have also been a beloved sport.

Burma has a long tradition if decorating their bullock carts in wonderful sculpture that reflects their culture and mythology.

Most carts would have an folk art carving attached to the prow of the cart.The purpose of these teak carvings was protection of the cart's passengers as well as being a pointer, responsible for guiding the cart.

Some were very simple in design, others extremely intricate. Typically they were hand painted in  bright colors, matching the colorful painting of the carts themselves.

When I first started importing from Asia, i would see ox carts on the streets along with bicycles, motorcycles & cars, but now 37 years later, they are now in the past.

I collected these ox cart prow ornaments over these many years. They are now rare and the delight of many collectors.

Bullock Cart..a poem by Kate Parker

Sweltering early morning haze

Patience saturates the breeze

Old Music of dusty pathways

Echoes timeless through centuries

Huge wooden wheels creak their ages bones

Tink-chink chime tiny bells

Horns painted red, blue & gold

Sweep in slow, methodical swell

Patchouli smoke whirls through sunshine

Peacocks strut in old Ceylon

Saddhus tend the roadside shrine

As barefoot villagers look on

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